Sleeping Beauty
by alemorganx
Summary: I know she might not remember all our memories. At three years old, I got scared of the things she made me feel. Three decades laters, it still scares me, and I always wonder when will she wake up?
1. Prologue

_The first time I saw Isabella, I was three years old. I know because my mom has told me so. I don't remember the date, time or even the place, but I do remember those deep brown eyes, the long curls of her hairs and the soft feeling of her hand holding mine as if she was giving me an unspoken promise. At the time, I didn't know the name of the feeling but it scared me._

 _Thirty years later, it still scares me…_

 _... but in a good way._


	2. June,1991

june 23...1991

I would like to say I knew I was going to marry her from the first time I saw her, that I was certain I would fathered her children and give her the whole world. Instead, I chose to hide my face with both of my hands hoping she wouldn't notice me anymore.

At three years old, a normal kid would be thinking about the next game to play, or what are you going to eat later. But that was not me, far from it. I was just this shy, underweight little kid with huge glasses that covered all my face and an untamable hair. Mom says she used to take me to the local playground but my interaction with other kids on scale from 0 to 10, I can confidently say it was 0. We used to go there because it was for free. Being a single mom at 19 years old didn't give you many choices but still, she says every Sunday was for us to enjoy ourselfs under the clouds of Seattle. Doctors say kids at my age have to be able to pronnouce correctly at least 3,000 words. Elise, my mom, had to take me three times each week for 2 years to see a therapist, who through breathing excercises and repeating the same words like a thousand times, helped me to speak almost fluently . It was a long road to go,  
but I do remember the first word I got right at the very first time: Isabella.

Seated under a tree, with whom I presume was her father was my sweet, beautiful and evil Isabella. 


	3. Graduation, 1993

She looked beautiful. It was a simple black dress bought at the local store and a shiny necklace on making her look perfect as ever. My mom was finally graduating, after years in college, she finally made it.

I watched her cried every week repeating the same words _"I'm not going to make it, I should've taken dad's offer"_. Other times she'd say _If I wasn't so stupid, we wouldn't be starving_. I didn't understand at the time what it felt like not to have something to eat. Mom always made sure I ate 4 times:

1) Breakfast: Pancakes with fruit, mostly apples  
2) Lunch: Chicken soup  
3) Second lunch (as she liked to call it): Toasts and Milk  
4) Dinner: Froot Loops

I was ok with all my meals but sometimes, I just couldn't eat. Seeing those bags under her eyes made me think she wasn't happy...maybe I wasn't enough to make her happy. I remember once telling her: " _Mom, Mrs. Denali said she enjoys having me at her house, maybe you could just drop me there and not be sad anymore"._  
I know, stupid, one does not know what it is like to be a parent until you have kids. But what else could I say? The suffering was evident in everyones eyes. She started crying harder than I've ever seen her, mumbling to herself " _stupid, stupid, stupid"_. I ran to her and locked her with my two little arms and said sorry over and over again. She hugged me back and between cries she promised to be a better mom and not to ever let me think she didn't want me. After that, she spent all night whispering _"I love you, my little man"_ , and in return, I said for the very first time the same words. The good thing was that it didn't hurt to express such big words. Later on , I would learn how painful it is to say _"I love You"_ and not hear those three words back.

Back to mom's big day. She wore the whole day a big smile that didn't leave her face. Our neighbor, Mrs. Denali had me standing in her lap for almost 3 hours. Since our last name was Mansen, we waited for my mom to be called. I actually think I fell asleep at some point. Finally, after what felt like forever, Elise Rose Mansen received her diploma. It was only me clapping and screaming " _I Love You, Eli_ " .

It was sad that we couldn't celebrate with more people. Only mom and me since Mrs. Denali said it was late and her age didn't allow her to keep up with us, the young ones. We ate for the first time apple pie, at least for me it was a first.  
That night I asked: " _Why don't you have a mommy and a daddy to celebrate with us?_ ". Her face went blank and I was terrified I had upset her…again. She gave me another one of her special hugs and said: " _We don't need them here, it's just us against the world."_

It was a Saturday night. We ate some snacks and drank orange juice. After taking a bath, I put my batman pj's and beg mom to go to the park to watch the clouds. " _Ok little boy, as long as it doesn't rain, we can go_ ".  
Not only did I smile after she accepted, but dreamt the whole night about the evil girl who, for two consecutive years, had been messing with me, broken 10 pair of glasses, cut my hair with stolen scissors and the most important thing: sweet and evil Isabella Swan had given me my first kiss on the lips under the apple tree on a rainy day. Our moms were talking about Daycare and them being distracted, my own Devil in Blue took the opportunity to take my hand, run to the farest tree and hide from them. Her face was serious, that didn't happen ever so I got scared, her brown eyes had never looked so big and shiny. After what seemed like forever, she said: " _Young Mr Mansen, since we've been best friends for.." she raised two of her cute fingers "this many, it's time for us to take the next step"_. I could only nod. Only God knew what the hell she was talking about. She grabbed my face and put her mouth in mine. Her taste was so sweet, it remind me of the apple pie I ate the previous night. My lips were moving, but my body was frozen since I didn't knew what she was doing. When she finally stopped, I didn't care she almost looked like she was eating my face, or leaving me with wet chicks. Nor did I care that our moms were yelling our names trying to find us. She was so going to ground me and disconnect the TV. I was going to suffer for not being able to watch my favorite cartoons.

Nothing else mattered anymore. The look on Isabella's face was priceless. The size of her smile could reach the stars in the sky. I made a promise to myself that day: even though she was evil and sweet in her own perfect way, I'd always make sure her smile never touched the ground.

...but promises are made to be broken, right?


End file.
